The  University  of  Minnesota, 

Saint  Anthony’s  Falls, 

June  25th,  1872. 


To  the  Honorable,  the  Board  of  Regents: 

In  obedience  to  your  resolution  of  March  26  th  ult.,  a copy  of  which 
is  annexed,  I have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  matter  rela- 
ting to  the  plan  of  organization  and  the  courses  of  study.  Inasmuch 
as  the  resolution,  by  implication,  seems  to  re-open  the  question  of 
organization,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  both  proper  and  respectful, 
although  my  views  are  on  record  in  many  reports  and  other  docu- 
ments, to  put  the  Board  in  possession  of  an  orderly  statement  of 
the  plan  itself,  of  the  conditions  which  seemed  to  justify  its  adop- 
tion, and  of  some  facts  and  opinions  which  might,  upon  occasion,  be 
adduces  in  defense  of  it. 

I am.  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  W.  FOLWELL. 


1 ^ 


“ Resolved , That  the  President  and  Faculty  of  the  University 
individually  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  requested  to  report  in  writing, 
direct,  at  the  next  meeting,  their  opinion  of  the  condition  and 
progress  of  the  University  in  its  various  departments  ; and,  if  any 
occur  to  them,  that  they  make  such  suggestions  and  recommenda- 
tions as  they  may  deem  important  regarding  the  present  plan  of 
organization  and  the  various  courses  of  instruction  as  now  estab- 
lished.” 

Passed  March  26,  1872. 


I. 

General  Considerations  had  in  view  at  the  time  the  question  of 
organization  came  up. 

1.  The  great  awakening  to  the  supreme  importance  of  education  in 
general.  Witness,  the  development  of  the  free  schools,  the  munificent  gifts 
in  the  aid  of  education,  of  Cornell,  Peabody,  Pardee,  Packer,  Williston 
and  others,  and  the  State  and  National  grants  to  higher  institutions. 

2.  An  immense  increase  of  youth  demanding  higher  education : — not, 
however,  of  those  looking  forward  to  the  so-called  “ learned  profes- 
sions,”* but  a number  much  greater  preparing  to  be  engineers,  mer- 
chants, architects,  chemists,  miners  and  metallurgists,  pharmaceutists, 
dyers,  manufacturers,  merchants,  navigators,  journalists,  naturalists,  as- 
tronomers, and  last,  not  least,  horticulturists  and  agriculturists;  wherefore 

3.  The  general  consent  that  the  old  college,  however  admirably  suited 
to  other  wants,  does  not  meet  the  demands  of  these  classes.  In  proof 
of  the  correctness  of  this  view, 

4.  The  establishment  of  numerous  polytechnic  schools,  such  as,  e.g., 

The  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

The  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  Yale  Coliege,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

The  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  Boston. 

The  Columbia  College  School  of  Mines,  New  York  city. 

The  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology,  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.; 
Likewise 

5.  The  grant  by  Congress  in  1862  of  9,000,000  acres  of  public  lands 
to  endow  colleges,  intended  to  provide  -‘liberal  and  practical  education 
for  the  industrial  classes”;  and  under  this  grant  the  establishment  of 
Agricultural  and  Polytechnic  Colleges  in  many  States;  such  as,  (e.  g.) 

The  Cornell  University, 

The  Kentucky  University, 

The  Illinois  Industrial  University, 

The  Agricultural  Colleges  of  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Pennsylvania, 
&c.,  &c.,  &c. — but  further, 

6.  The  voluntary  exile  of  hundreds  of  our  young  men  to  foreign  coun- 
tries in  search  of  that  culture  not  to  be  had  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

7.  The  importation,  chiefly  by  these  persons  and  through  their  writings, 
of  foreign  University  ideas,  traditions,  customs  and  terminology,  which, 
falling  in  with  the  general  sentiment  favoring  a broader  development  of 
our  higher  education,  had  led  to 

8.  The  establisnment  of  many  institutions  called  Universities , in  expec- 
tation “of  things  hoped  for.” 

*See  appendix  A I. 


4 


9.  The^^Hralj  acknowledged  failure  of  our  Universities  to  deserve  that 
title , owinHPniefly  to  lack  of  material,  i.  e.,  of  students  properly  fitted  for 
University  work*  Therefore, 

10.  The  need,  as  a condition  precedent  to  the  existence  of  a genuine 
University,  of  a lafge  number  of  academic  schools  of  high  rank,  capable 
of  fitting  students  to  enter  upon  the  studies  properly  belonging  to  the 
University.  Such  schools,  called  “secondary,”  exist  in  all  countries 
in  which  Universities  exist.  See  Appendix  A. 

11.  An  excessive  number  of  Colleges,  insufficiently  endowed, 
indifferently  officered,  scantily  attended,  “ hindering  rather  than  aiding 
6ne  another  by  their  jealous  rivalries,  and  wasting  the  most  precious 
resources  of  the  country  .” 

12.  In  these  Colleges  a general  breaking  down  of  discipline,  and  a \ 

cheapening  of  degrees,  things  not  to  be  prevented  in  institutions  de- 
moralized  by  ruinous  competition, 

13.  In  these  colleges  also,  an  overloading  of  the  course  of  study  in  the 
attempt  to  adapt  the  college,  with  its  single  curriculum,  to  modern  de- 
mands.  But 

14.  The  strong  and  decided  reaction  against  the  tendency  to  Overcrowd 
the  college  course,  coinciding  with 

15.  A relaxation  from  the  traditional  custom  of  forcing  students  over  a 
single  course,  as  shown  in 

16.  The  addition  of  so-called  l,sCie7itifiC  courses"  of  study  into  many  col- 
leges and  Universities,  or  irt 

17.  The  introduction  of  so-called  optional  or  elective  studies  and  courses 
of  study:  in  connection  with  which 

18.  The  remarkble  fact  that  the  end  of  the  second  (or  Sophomore)  year 
of  the  old  college  course  has  been  very  generally  pitched  upon  as  the 
proper  point  at  which  to  admit  optional  studies  and  courses,  (see 
Appendix  B),  thereby  indicating  that 

19.  Some  University  work  proper  begins  now  in  America  (and  will  for  a 
long  time  continue  to  begin)  with  the  Junior  year,  and  that  studies  should  he 
assorted  accordingly . Wherefore 

20.  Universities  must  provide  for  dropping  the  work  of  the  first  two 
college  years,  belonging  by  its  nature  to  the  secondary  schools.  See 
Appendix  C. 

21.  The  higher  secondary  education  embracing  the  first  two  college 
years,  has  been  found  to  be  an  excellent  preparation  for  the  “ industrial 
professions,”  and  it  is  also  sufficient  for  the  mere  practitioner  in  the  so- 
called  learned  professions,  although  in  fact 

22.  The  law  and  medical  schools,  receiving  students  with  merely  the 
primary  education  of  the  common  school,  are  turning  out  under  the  spur 
of  sharp  competition  hundreds  of  graduates  every  year,  without  culture, 
without  science — ‘to  the  great  infamy  of  the  professions.  Wherefore 

23.  The  impending  necessity  that  some  public  endowed  institution  not 
depending  upon  tuition  money  for  support,  should  by  requiring  as  the 
minimum  preparation  the  secondary  education  indicated,  rescue  the  legal 
and  medical  professions  from  the  low  condition  into  which  they  have 
confessedly  fallen. 


2\.  For  lack  of1  suitable  secondary  or  academic  schools  to  prepare  stu- 
dents, the  Agricultural  Colleges  have  very  generally  been  forced  down 
into  the  secondary  field,  and  been  obliged  to  offer  courses  of  study  made 
up  mainly  of  academic  branches  with  merely  a seasoning  of  agricultural 
studies.  Whereas 

25.  The  Agricultural  College  ought  to  be  a special  professional  school, 
analagous  to  law*  medical,  and  engineering  schools,  to  which  students 
shall  bring  a sufficient  preparation  of  general  and  disciplinary  studies, 
and  it  is  only  as  such  that  the  Agricultural  College  can  form  a co-ordinate 
department  of  the  University. 

26.  The  actual  foundation  and  maintenance  of  Universities  by  States 
is  an  experiment,  the  success  of  which  is  not  expected  by  some,  and  not 
desired  by  many  others. 

27.  The  Christian  Church— under  various  denominations— has  immense 
investments  in  higher  education,  and  under  her  auspices 

28.  Private  individuals  and  corporate  bodies  will  continue  to  endow 
and  support  educational  establishments.  Nevertheless  there  exists 

.29.  A powerful  tendency  in  the  direction  of  comprehensive — -not  to  say 
exclusive- — state  and  national  effort  to  control  education  and  to  develop 
complete  systems  of  schools  culminating  in  Universities.  Wherefore, 

30.  The  evident  need  of  such  an  organization  of  education  by  competent 
authority  as  will  invite  and  ensure  the  co-operation  of  all  parties  inter- 
ested in  the  business  and  secure  economy  and  efficiency;  accordingly 

31.  The  State  University  should  be  so  organized  as  to  form  an  integral 
part  of  a State  system  of  public  education,  while  free  scope  and  room 
should  be  allowed  for  the  legitimate  efforts  of  all  private  and  corporate 
agencies. 

32.  The  higher  education  of  women, — a problem  not  to  be  put  aside 
when  public  funds  form  the  endowment  of  a proposed  University. 

II. 

Local  Considerations:  State  of  Minnesota,  a. d.  1870. 

1.  An  act  of  the  Legislature  approved  February  18th,  1868,  “Re-organ- 
izing the  University  and  establishing  an  Agricultural  College  therein” — 

2.  The  Board  of  Regents  required  by  this  act  to  establish  “ five  or  more 
Colleges  or  Departments ; that  is  to  say, 

“A  Department  of  Elementary  Instruction; 

“A  College  of  Science,  Literature  and  the  Arts; 

“ A College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts; 

“ A College  or  Department  of  Law; 

“A  College  or  Department  of  Medicine.” 

3.  An  endowment  of  public  lands,  consisting  on  the  one  hand  of  Uni- 
versity lands  proper  and  on  the  other  of  “ Agricultural  College  ” lands 
in  the  proportion  of  about  3 to  5. 

4.  An  evident  and  undoubted  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of 
Regents  to  devote  the  funds  to  accrue  from  the  Agricultural  College  lands 
with  the  utmost  fidelity  to  the  object  named  in  the  act  of  endowment 
passed  by  Congress  July  2,  1862,  As  an  earnest  of  this  disposition, 

5.  The  purchase  of  a farm  for  experimental  purposes  and  the  election 
of  professors  of  Agriculture,  Military  Science  and  Civil  Engineering, 


6.  A provisional  organization,  in  some  respects  excellent,  but  lacking 
in  thoroughness — the  various  departments  forming  rather  a mere  associa- 
tion than  an  organism.  Indeed  the  separate  establishment  of  the  colleges 
or  departments  demanded  by  the  statute  was  quite  lost  sight  of.  The 
printed  report  contained  some  admirable  and  striking  suggestions.  [See 
Appendix  D.] 

7.  Free  Tuition  in  all  departments;  small  annual  charge  for  “ inci- 
dentals” only. 

8.  No  dormitory  system,  but  students  of  both  sexes  left  free  to  choose 
their  residences  in  the  city. 

9.  A Faculty  of  ten  persons,  including  the  President. 

10.  An  attendance  of  185  students  — about  one-half  of  them  young 
ladies. 

11.  Thirteen  students,  ranking  provisionally  as  Freshmen,  of  whom 
probably  but  five  were  of  that  rank : all  the  rest  below  these. 

12.  A large  number  of  students  looking  forward  to  polytechnic  studies, 
a great  demand  for  instruction  in  the  German  language,  and  an  unexpect- 
edly large  number  of  classical  students. 

13.  But  one  denominational  college,  partially  developed,  in  actual 
existence  in  the  State. 

14.  A very  small  number  of  fitting  schools  (3-5)  in  private  or  denomi- 
national hands  and  all  young  and  feeble. 

15.  A considerable  number  of  excellent  public  High  Schools,  ably 
officered  and  ready  to  co-operate  actively  with  the  University,  but  as  yet 
not  having  generally  adopted  courses  of  study  preparatory  to  it.  Hence 

16.  The  evident  -necessity  of  so  planning  the  work  of  the  University 
as  to  begin  where  the  High  Schools  should  leave  off. 

Such  was  “the  situation”  when  in  June,  1870,  the  question  of  or- 
ganization came  definitely  before  the  Board  of  Regents. 

III. 

The  plan  actually  adopted  was  the  following,  being  the  report  of  a 
special  committee  : 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


PLAN  OF  ORGANIZATION. 


‘•There  shall  be  established  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota,  five  or  more  Colleges 
or  Departments ; that  is  to  say,  a Depart- 
ment of  Elementary  Instruction  ; a College 
of  Science,  Literature  and  the  Arts;  a Col- 
lege of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts, 
including  Military  Tactics;  a College  or 
Department  of  Law;  also  a College  or 
Department  of  Medicine.'1 — [Laws  of  Min- 
nesota, 1868. 


“ * * * to  teach  such  branches  of  learn- 
ing as  are  related  to  Agriculture  and  the 
Mechanic  Arts,  in  sueh  manner  as  the 
Legislatures  of  the  States  may  respectively 
prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the  liberal 
and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  profes- 
sions of  life,  without  excluding  other  scien- 
tific and  classical  studies,  and  including 
military  tactics.”— [Act  of  Congress  grant- 
ing land  for  Agricultural  Colleges,  1862.] 


A three  years  preparatory  department  has  been  in  operation  since 
1866.  Twenty  students,  most  of  whom  have  passed  through  this  Depart- 
ment, are  now  pursuing  the  studies  of  Freshmen  in  Science  or  Arts. 

It  is  proposed  to  drop,  as  soon  as  may  be  practicable,  the  first  year  of 
this  preparatory  course,  and  to  add  to  the  two  remaining  years,  other  two 


1 

7 

years,  corresponding  to  the  Freshman  and  Sophomore  years  of  our  ordi- 
nary Colleges,  thus  forming  a Department  to  be  called  “The  Collegiate 
Department,”  of  which  the  prominent  features  shall  be  these,  viz; 

1.  Two  or  more  parallel  courses  of  general  scientific  and  classical 
stndies,  designed  to  prepare  students  either  to  enter  one  of  the  professional 
schools,  or  the  Higher  Academic  course  of  the  University. 

2.  These  courses  to  be  open  to  both  sexes  alike. 

3.  A thorough  system  of  discipline,  by  means  of  marking  system, 
military  drill,  gymnastics,  &c. 

4.  All  students  to  be  instructed  in  those  principles  of  Agriculture  (in- 
cluding Horticulture,)  the  Mechanic  Arts,  and  Hygiene,  which  every 
“ educated  man”  or  woman  needs  to  know. 

5.  No  degrees  to  be  conferred  at  the  end  of  these  courses,  but  ouly  a 
certificate  of  fitness  to  proceed  with  some  proper  University  course. 

6.  A shorter  course  of  scientific  studies  for  students  preparing  to 
enter  the  Colleges  of  Agriculture,  Medicine,  &c. 

7.  Tuition  in  this  Department  to  be  FREE. 

8.  Qualifications  for  admission  : Reading,  Writing,  Spelling, 
Arithmetic,  and  elements  of  Algebra,  English  Grammar  and  Geography, 

Latin  Grammar  for  classical  students.  After  years  Latin  Grammar 

and  Physiology  for  all.  Age,  14  years. 

9.  STUDIES — Mathematics, — Algebra,  Geometry,  Trigonometry, 
Mensuration  (includes  Surveying),  and  Analytical  Geometry. 

Sciences — Chemistry,  Physics,  Mineralogy,  Botany,  and  Zoology, 
Geology,  Physiology,  Geography,  and  Astronomy.  Of  these  the  nomen- 
clature and  elements. 

Languages — English  (including  Grammar,  Rhetoric  and  Logic,) 
Latin,  Greek,  French,  German,  Scandinavian,  (any  one  or  any  two,  if  the 
teaching  force  can  be  made  strong  enongh.) 

Other  Exercises — Military  Tactics,  Gymnastics  and  Calisthenics, 
Drawing,  Elocution,  &c.  Lectures  on  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic 
Arts,  and  Hygiene. 

The  theory  of  this  Collegiate  Department  is,  that  the  student  having 
successfully  pursued  one  or  other  of  its  prescribed  courses,  will  be  suitably 
prepared  to  enter  the  “ College  of  Science,  Literature,  and  the  Arts,”  or 
the  College  of  that  profession  to  which  he  intends  devoting  his  life.  It  is 
too  much  to  ask  now,  in  a new  country,  that  candidates  for  Agriculture, 
Law,  Medicine,  or  Business,  shall  generally  have  taken  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  in  Arts. 

It  is  not  thought  necessary  to  enlarge  upon  the  details  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  professional  and  technical  schools,  the  number  and  kinds  of 
which  must  depend  upon  the  means  of  the  University  and  the  public 
demands.  The  first  of  them  to  be  organized  will  be  that  of  “ Agriculture 
and  the  Mechanic  Arts.”  The  Higher  Academic  Department  will  cor- 
respond nearly  with  the  Junior  and  Senior  years  of  the  American  Col- 
leges, except  that  there  shall  be  entire  academic  freedom  in  the  selection 
of  courses.  No  degrees  shall  be  conferred  except  after  successful  exami- 
nations, aud  that  to  some  extent  upon  subjects  upon  which  no  direct 
instruction  shall  have  been  given. 


/ 


1 


8 

It  is  a part  of  the  plan  that  from  year  to  year  some  branch  or  branches 
shall  be  dropped  off  the  lower  end  of  the  Collegiate  courses,  so  that  at 
length,  the  whole  Department  having  been  relegated  to  the  schools  below, 
shall  “expire  by  limitation,”  leaving  the  federated  classical,  scientific  and 
professional  schools  of  the  University  proper.  In  fact  the  Collegiate 
Department  is  intended  to  be  a model  “ Secondary  School.” 

The  following  diagram  will  suggest,  though  inadaquately,*  the  relat- 
tions  of  the  Departments  : 


Latin  Collegiate 

School-  Department. 


The  essential  features  of  the  plan  appear  to  be : 

1.  That  while  offering  the  old  college  course  and  discipline  in  its  best 
form  to  the  literary  and  professional  classes,  the  University  will  provide 
for  the  industrial  classes  that  “ liberal  and  practical  education”  contem- 
plated in  the  laws  which  have  conferred  her  endowments. 

2.  The  separation  of  the  natural  epochs  of  secondary  and  superior  edu- 
cation, and  the  ultimate  liberation  of  the  University  from  the  elementary 
work  belonging  to  the  former.  Coinciding  with  this  separation,  an  ad- 
vantageous assortment  of  studies,  methods  and  discipline  suitable  to  the 
two  periods  respectively.  As  a further  result 

3.  The  simplification  of  the  question  of  “mixed  education.” 

4.  The  actual  elevation  of  the  professional  schools,  by  requiring  of  can- 
didates for  degrees  a good  general  education,  as  a condition  for  entrance, 
while,  not  insisting  in  theory  on  the  impossible  demand  that  all  should 
have  gone  over  the  whole  of  the  old  College  course. 

5.  The  elevation  of  the  Colleges  of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts 
to  equal  rank  and  standing  with  the  Law  and  Medical  Colleges,  and  the 
separation  of  the  studies  and  exercises  properly  belonging  to  them,  from 
the  elementary  branches  taught,  or  which  should  be  taught,  in  the  pri- 
mary and  secondary  schools,  and  which  it  is  not  the  business  of  Colleges 
to  teach. 

* The  inadequacy  of  this  diagram  consists  in  this:  that  according  to  it,  students  look- 
ing torward  to  professional  or  technical  studies,  are  apparently  expected  to  give  up  work 
“ in  Arts”  at  the  close  of  the  Collegiate  Department.  They  are,  indeed,  allowed  to  do  so, 
hut  the  University  Course  in  Arts  is  most  urgently  recommended  to  all  who  can  by  any 
reasonable  means  and  sacrifices  attain  to  it. 


6.  That  while  proposing  to  provide  instruction  on  the  most  liberal 
scale  in  all  subjects  proper  to  be  taught  in  a genuine  University,  the  in- 
stitution shall  not  offer  an  unlimited  “option”  of  studies,  but  rather  a 
suitable  variety  of  well-ordered  courses  of  study,  leading  to  appropriate 
degrees. 

7.  The  total  abolition  of  all  honorary  degrees. 

8.  A close  and  organic  connection  with  the  system  of  public  schools, 
permitting  and  inviting  the  co-operation  of  all  private  and  corporate 
institutions.  “ The  University  begins  wherever  the  High  School  leaves  off.” 

9.  That  while  the  main  features  of  the  plan  may  remain  unchanged, 
it  admits  of  great  freedom  in  the  arrangement  of  details  to  suit  vary- 
ing conditions  of  times  and  circumstances. 

10.  A faithful  adherence  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  laws,  state  and 
national,  which  have  established  and  endowed  the  University,  and 
which  contemplate  it  as  a federation  of  literary,  scientific,  professional, 
and  technical  or  industrial  Colleges , each  imparting  liberal  and  practi- 
cal education. 

Note. — It  is  a necessary  corollary  of  this  plan  of  organization,  that  the 
University  work  be  extended  beyond  the  baccalaureate  graduation,  as  soon 
as  may  be  practicable,  by  the  addition  of  studies  or  courses  of  study  lead- 
ing to  the  master’s  degree  or  the  doctorate. 

On  the  12th  day  ot  July,  1870,  a code  of  by-lavrs  was  adopted,  put- 
ting the  foregoing  plan  into  actual  operation.  For  a summary  of  these, 
as  since  modified  in  some  particulars,  see  Appendix  E. 

IV. 

OPINIONS  OF  DISTINGUISHED  AMERICAN  EDUCATORS  AND  OTHERS. 

[It  is  proper  to  remark  that  most  of  the  following  opinions  were  fur- 
nished in  answer  to  a printed  circular  letter  issued  in  February,  1870, 
setting  forth  the  then  proposed  plan.] 

President  Porter  and  others,  of  Yale  College : — “The  undersigned  having 
had  their  attention  called  to  the  proposed  organization  of  the  University 
of  Minnesota,  as  set  forth  by  President  Folwell,  have  been  impressed  with 
its  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  a new  State,  its  harmony  with  the  work  of 
other  educational  institutions  in  Minnesota,  and  its  just  recognition  of  the 
value  of  literary,  scientific  and  professional  culture,” 

(Signed,)  Noah  Porter,  President  of  Yale  College. 

D.  C.  Gilman, 

Wm.  D.  Whitney, 

Professors  of  Yale  College. 

The  undersigned  agree  with  the  foregoing  expression  of  opinion. 
(Signed)  James  Hadley,  Professor  of  Greek, 

George  F.  Barker,  Professor  of  Chemistry, 
Wm.  H.  Brewer,  Professor  of  Agriculture, 
Thomas  R.  Lounsbury,  Professor  of  English. 

President  Hopkins,  of  Williams  College: — “The  general  plan  seems  to 
me  judicious,  and  I cannot  think  you  will  find  difficulty  in  adjusting  it  to 
your  wants  and  means  as  they  shall  be  revealed.” 

President  White,  of  Cornell  University: — “Your  plan  is  interesting,  and 
in  view  of  the  peculiarities  of  your  intermediate  education  in  the  State, 
seems  to  be  excellent.” 

Hon.  Horace  Webster,  late  President  of  the  College  of  the  city  of  New 
York: — “ I like  your  plan  and  course  of  study  as  given  in  your  circular.” 


10 


/ 


President  Runkle,  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology: — “I 
have  looked  over  the  documents  you  were  good  enough  to  send  me,  with 
much  interest,  and  feel  sure  that  you  are  on  the  right  track.  * * * 

You  are  building  up  a University,  and  all  subjects  should  be  approached 
in  the  most  catholic  spirit.” 

President  Frieze,  of  the  University  of  Michigan: — “I  sincerely  hope 
that  you  may  be  able  to  realize  your  plan  for  the  development  of  a Uni- 
versity. I can  see  no  deficiency  in  it.  * * * I can  see  that  you 

and  your  coadjutors  must  have  infinite  faith  and  patience,  and  be  con- 
tented with  very  gradual  and  slow  progress,  in  the  filling  up  and  complete 
carrying  out  of  the  design,  but  it  is  certainly  correct  in  principle;  and  I 
am  convinced  that  America  will  never  have  a University  until  some  of 
our  institutions  adopt  a course  similar  to  that  you  propose.” 

President  Coppee,  of  Lehigh  University,  writes: — “The  general  system 
strikes  me  as  just  and  good.” 

President  Jackson,  of  Trinity  College,  Hartford: — “ I like  the  general 
scheme  of  your  University.  * * * As  you  are  beginning 

anew,  and  have  not  old  systems  to  overthrow,  you  could  not  do  better, 
so  far  as  practical  education  is  concerned,  than  to  approximate  your  system 
as  closely  as  your  circumstances  will  allow  to  that  which  is  so  happilv 
developed,  and  in  such  successful  operation  in  Prussia. 

President  Morton,  of  the  Stevens  Institute  ol  Technology “ I can 
heartily  approve  of  your  course.” 

President  Read,  of  the  University  of  Missouri: — “Your  plan  meets  my 
entire  approval.  * * * You  have  the  correct  view  of  agricultural 

education.” 

President  DeKoven,  of  Racine  College : — “ You  have  tny  thanks  for  the 
noble  plan  you  have  so  clearly  advanced.” 

PresidentAngell,  of  the  University  of  Vermont,  (now  of  the  University  of 
Michigan  ,)  says  : — “A  great  point  will  be  gained  when  we  have  carried 
secondary  education  up  to  the  mark  you  have  set.  I cannot  but  applaud 
your  courage  in  attempting  the  experiment  in  a new  State  like  yours. 

* * * I do  most  earnestly  wish  the  highest  measure  of  success  to 

your  praiseworthy7  effort.” 

President  Chadbourne,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  (now  of  Wil- 
liams College): — “Your  plan  shows  that  you  .understand  the  situation 
fully,  and  that  your  object  is  to  organize  the  University  to  meet  the 
present  wants  of  the  State,  giving  it,  at  the  same  time,  the  conditions  of 
growth  as  new  demands  are  made.”  * * * I like  the  plan  because  it 

seems  to  me  to  aim  at  making  the  University  supplement  the  common 
schools;  and  it  should  not  shrink  from  humble  work,  while  that  is  neces- 
sary on  account  of  the  defect  of  the  schools.” 

Dr.  J.  M.  Gregory,  President  of  the  Illinois  Industrial  University: — 1 
“You  know  I am  not  an  extremist,  any  more  than  yourself,  and  I most 
heartily  approve  of  yrour  plans,  which  have  for  their  aim  to  hold  fast  all 
that  is  good  in  the  past,  while  you  gain  all  the  new  good  the  present  offers.” 

Hon.  Henry  Barnard,  late  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education: — “It  has 
been  a favorite  thought  of  mine  for  years,  to  engraft  the  Polytechnic 
School,  as  you  will  see  it  developed  in  Zurich,  Carlsruhe,  and  other  points, 
on.  to  our  American  High  Schools  and  Colleges,  as  you  have  done.” 

Rev.  A.  P.  Peabody,  D.  D.,  of  Harvard  University : — “ I want  to  express 
my  sincere  and  gratified  interest  in  the  plan  of  your  University.  I think 
you  have  placed  your  elective  system  just  where  it  ought  to  stand.  Up 
to  the  term  corresponding  to  the  Sophomore  year,  the  required  course 
will  no  more  than  fit  a student  to  make  an  intelligent  and  j udicious  choice, 
and  the  whole  previous  period  is  needed  for  studies  in  which  every  student 
ought  to  be  a proficient.” 


11 


Rev.  Dr.  Wilson,  of  Cornell  University,  Professor  of  Mental  and  Moral 
Philosophy: — “ I express  my  approval  of  it  in  general  without  reserve.” 

* * * It  would  enable  us  to  put  the  first  and  second  year  men— preparing  for  the 
University  courses  proper,— under  a regimen  and  training  such  as  boys  need,  and  at  the 
same  time  allow  the  University  men  the  liberty  for  which  men  only  are  fitted. 

* * * It  would  allow  us  in  practice  to  take  advantage  of  the  diflerence  between  the 
recitation  and  the  lecture  systems,  and  to  use  the  former  almost  exclusively  in  the  pre- 
paratory or  Collegiate  course,  and  to  make  the  most  of  the  lecture  system  in  the  Uni- 
versity course  where  alone  it  can  be  used  with  advantage,  and  where  It  is  incomparably 
superior  to  the  recitation  system.  [See  Appendix  F.] 

Rev.  Dr.  Kendrick,  of  the  University  of  Rochester,  Professor  of  Greek: 
“ I am  glad  to  see  your  young  State  adopting  a plan  so  comprehensive 
and  liberal.  * * * The  general  plan  seems  to  me  unexceptionable 

and  excellent.  The  thousand  questions  of  detail  will  have  to  be  settled 
by  experience.” 

Major  J.  H.  Whittlesey,  of  Cornell  University,  Professor  of  Military 
Science  : — “ I think  your  plan  admirable,  because  it  takes  existing  circum- 
stances in  your  State  as  they  are.  It  preserves  the  lines  of  demarcation 
between  the  different  stages  of  Instruction,  and  can  adapt  its  methods  to 
the  requirements  of  each,  and  it  maps  out  the  chart  for  wnatever  of 
growth  and  development,  as  a true  University,  the  people  of  your  State 
may  require.” 

Professor  J.  W.  Chickering,  of  the  National  Deaf-Mute  College,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. : — “I  have  to  say  that  examination  and  reflection  have  led 
me  to  regard  your  plan  of  organization  as  admirably  suited  to  its  purpose. 
It  has  the  rare  merit  of  combining  a practical  basis  of  organization  for  an 
institution  in  its  infancy,  with  opportunity  for  unlimited  expansion  in  the 
future.  * * * I am  greatly  pleased  with  the  flexibility  of  its  relation 

to  the  whole  common  school  system  of  the  State.  * * * a very  valu- 

able contribution  toward  the  solution  of  the  various  educational  problems 
offering  themselves  alike  to  the  wise  educator  and  the  thoughtful  legis- 
lator.” 

Dr.  Asa  Gray,  of  Harvard  University,  Professor  of  Botany: — “ I can  say 
in  general,  that  your  plan  seems  to  me  well  considered,  and  we  wish  you 
every  success,” 

Dr.  Charles  A.  Joy,  of  Columbia  College,  Professor  of  Chemistry  : — 
“The  plan  of  development,  or  the  method  of  evolution  of  the  studies, 
invented  by  you,  is  the  best  I have  seen.  * * * You  give  due  impor- 

tance to  classical  culture,  and  you  make  room  for  the  on-coming  army  of 
science.” 

Dr.  E.  W.  Hilgard,  of  the  University  of  Mississippi,  Professor  of  Agri- 
culture : — “ I have  read  attentively,  and  with  great  satisfaction,  the  various 
documents  concerning  'he  proposed  organization  of  your  University. 

* * * I cannot  omit  to  express  to  you,  in  general,  my  entire  concur- 

rence in  your  views.” 

Dr.  Willard  F.  Rising,  of  the  University  of  California.  Professor  of 
Chemistry: — “I  do  not  hesitate  to  approve  your  plan;  and  I shall  look 
forward  to  good  results  from  it.” 

Professor  J.  Montgomery,  of  Woodstock,  Ontario : — “I  am  pleased  with 
your  plans. 

“ I like  the  Collegiate  Department,  because  it  covers  just  the  ground  it  should  cover; 
it  secures  discipline  to  the  pupil  just  when  he  needs  it,  and  it  carries  him  to  a poin  t 
where  he  may  be  allowed  to  use  his  own  choice.  Academical  education  is  the  great  need 
of  the  country  at  the  present  time.  * * * No  doubt  you  do  well  to  drop  tue  subjects 
taught  in  this  department  as  soon  as  they  can  be  taught  well  in  the  Union  and  High 
Schools.  * * * Your  plan  far  surpasses  all  others  in  that  it  provides  for  all  classes. 

I am  much  pleased  with  the  plan  of  separating  the  Collegiate  and  University  courses  at  a 
point  corresponding  to  the  end  of  the  Sophomore  year. 

Professor  Albert  S,  Wheeler,  of  Cornell  University; — “Your  plan  is 
very  sound  and  very  thorough,  (possibly  too  thorough  for  Western 
demands,)  but  none  too  thorough  for  the  demands  of  deep  and  liberal 


12 


/ 


scholarship.  * * * If  it  is  carried  out  it  will  secure  your  State  a real 

University.  The  most  striking  feature  of  the  plan,  it  seems  to  me,  is  its 
flexibility.” 

Hon.  J.  D.  Cox,  of  Cincinnati,  O.,  Trustee  of  the  University  of  Cin- 
cinnati : — “ I find  that  we  are  working  in  very  nearly  the  line  marked  out 
by  you,  and  with  the  same  central  idea  of*  the  University  course.  We 
hope  to  have  some  day,  in  Cincinnati,  a continuous  hierarchy  of  schools, 
reaching  from  the  primary  upwards  by  regular  gradations,  branching  into 
parallel  courses  of  technical  and  special  study  as  we  ascend. 

Hon.  John  Hancock,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Cincinnati, O.: — “ From 
the  examination  I have  been  enabled  to  give  your  plan  for  your  Univer- 
sity, I judge  it  to  be  well  adapted  to  the  wants'  of  your  people.  We  have 
in  contemplation  the  establishment  of  a University  for  our  city,  and  the 
same  question  is  pressing  upon  our  attention  which  you  discuss  in  your 
report.  We  have  two  High  Schools,  and  the  problem  is'  to  so  arrange  their 
course  of  study  as  to  cover  about  two  years  of  the  usual  College  course , and 
gradually  elevate  that  standard  in  future  years , so  as  finally  to  complete 
the  ordinary  College  curriculum  in  these  schools,  and  thus  render  it  pos- 
sible to  make  our  institution  a University  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 

“We  have  some  among  us  who  insist  that  we  shall  at  once  attempt  to 
establish  a full-fledged  University  on  the  German  plan.  Such  a course 
seems  to  me,  in  our  condition  of  society,  utterly  impracticable.  Such  an 
institution  will  require  in  this  country  some  time  to  grow.  To  such  a 
growth  your  plan  very  admirably  adapts  itself.  * * * We  already 

carry  pupils  through  the  Freshman  year. 

Professor  Ira  Moore,  Principal  of  the  Normal  School  at  St.  Cloud: — 
“ Your  plan  of  the  University  is  before  me,  and  pleases  me  much,  and  in 
no  one  feature  so  much  as  that  it  promises  to  be,  not  like  our  Eastern 
institutions,  a College  devoted  to  the  specialty  of  languages,  with  depart- 
ments for  other  studies  tacked  on  as  appendages,  but  a University  proper, 
giving  equal  scope  and  honors  to  all  the  departments  of  learning.  * * * 
I am  glad  that  women  are  to  be  admitted  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  insti- 
tution. This  certainly  is  as  it  should  be.” 

Hon.  Wm.  T.  Harris,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  St.  Louis,  Mo.: — 
“ Your  views  and  plans  seem  to  me  to  be  very  catholic  and  very  practical.” 

Professor  J.  W.  Stearns,  of  the  University  of  Chicago; — It  seems  to 
me  that  you  have  made  a move  in  the  right  direction,  in  carrying  the 
work  of  secondary  education  forward  to  the  close  of  the  present  Sopho- 
more year.  This,  I am  convinced,  is  the  true  way  of  meeting  the  rival 
claims  of  the  old  and  new  education.  ‘ We  must  elevate  our  standard’ 
all  the  Colleges  are  saying.  You  have  commenced  by  putting  yours 
where  it  ought  to  be;  and  by  clearly  avowing  your  purpose,  and  by  show- 
ing how  it  is  to  be  accomplished,  you  have  won  half  the  battle.  Success 
to  you  in  your  efforts.  I shall  watch  the  history  of  your  progress  with 
confidence  and  interest. 

John  T.  Wheeler,  A.  M.,  Latin  Master  in  St.  Paul’s  School,  Concord, 
N H. : — “ However  I believe  in  discriminating  now  between  the  Uni- 
versity and  College  work,  heretofore  partially  confounded  in  the  hetero- 
geneous curriculums  of  our  Colleges.  Let  the  Freshman  and  Sophomore 
work  be  relegated  to  the  schools,  and  a year  be  added  to  the  University 
Course;  and  then,  only,  I think,  can  our  Higher  Education  be  developed.” 

Rev.  W.  W.  Washburn,  late  Principal  of  the  Preparatory  Department 
of  the  University  of  Minnesota: — “ In  your  scheme  of  organization,  you 
have  comprehended  the  actual  situation  of  affairs,  and  provided  for  the 
wants  of  that  new  State  very  fully.  You  have  crystallized  and  put  into 
admirable  form  a thought  that  has  often  presented  itself  to  my  mind,  i.  e., 
that  the  University  courses  branch  at  the  close  of  the  Sophomore  year. 
* * * I feel  very  confident  that  your  plan  will  succeed,  and  that  it  will 

commend  itself  to  the  judgment  of  all  who  are  acquainted  with  the  wants 
of  our  new  States.” 


13 


Hon.  Horace  Capron,  late  Commissioner  of  Agriculture; — “ Your  views 
on  the  comprehensive  education  to  be  expected  at  what  is  strictly  a Uni- 
versity, will  generally  be  adopted  as  sound.  Our  Agricultural  Colleges 
should  be  gradually  developed  with  a peculiar  organization,  adapted  to 
the  demands  of  the  times  and  to  the  wants  of  our  Agriculture. 

Rev.  W.  J.  Beecher,  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Theological  Seminary, 
Auburn,  N.  Y. : — “But,  all  suggestions  apart,  I believe  that  your  plan, 
just  as  it  is,  is  a good  plan,  if  not  the  best,  and  that  it  'will  work,  and  will 
be  popular. 

Hon.  C.  K.  Davis,  U.  S.  Dist.  Attorney,  St.  Paul: — “ I am  impressed 
with  the  conviction  that  your  plan  is  an  excellent  one  in  its  general  scope.” 

Professor  Wm.  F.  Phelps,  Principal  of  the  First  State  Normal  School, 
Winona;' — “I  have  studied  with  much  interest  the  courses  of  study  and 
plan  of  operations  laid  down  for  the  University  of  Minnesota.  From 
these  examinations  I feel  prepared  to  say  that  they  seem  to  me  to  be  well 
considered,  judicious,  and  in  harmony  with  the  most  enlightened  views  of 
Higher  Education,  as  entertained  by  our  best  thinkers*  Time  and  expe- 
rience may  make  minor  changes  in  details  expedient,  but  on  the  whole 
your  plans  are,  I believe,  most  wisely  conceived.” 

Professor  Jas.  R.  Boise,  Dept,  of  Greek,  University  of  Chicago: — “ You 
have  a noble  work  before  you,  and  I am  glad  you  understand  so  well  the 
importance  and  the  nature  of  your  task.  Your  views  appear  to  me  to  be 
enlightened  and  liberal.” 


Suggestions  as  to  the  Future  Development  of  the 
University. 


The  law  of  February,  18,  1868  gives  the  Board  of  Regents  unlimited 
power  to  establish  Colleges  or  Departments  in  the  University. 
A subsequent  amendment  authorizes  them  to  dispense  with  the  “ Depart- 
ment of  Elementary  Instruction,”  so  fast  and  so  far  as  may  to  them  seem 
just  and  proper. 

1. 

The  College  of  Science,  Literature  and  the  Arts  should 
remain,  as  a higher  sphere  of  culture  in  the  “ Humanities,”  and  should 
not  be  complicated  with  technical  courses. 

2. 

The  College  of  the  Mechanic  Arts  now  presents  but  two  courses 
of  study — those  in  Civil  Engineering  and  Mechanical  Engineering  : 
in  addition  thereto,  there  may  hereafter  be  opened  other  courses  or 
“departments,”  e.g. 

1.  Mining  Engineering. 

2.  Metallurgy  and  Assaying. 

3.  Architecture. 

4.  Mechanical  Drawing. 

3. 

The  College  of  Agriculture  may,  in  progress  of  time,  give  room 
to  such  specialties  as  : 

1.  Agricultural  Chemistry. 

2.  Horticulture  and  Pomology. 

3.  Arboriculture. 

4.  Stock-breeding,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 


/ 


14 

4. 

The  Colleges  of  Law  and  Medicine  named  in  the  statute,  will  of  course 
be  organized  in  due  time.  A good  Secondary  Education,  including  at  least 
the  Latin  language,  should  be  the  minimum  prerequisite  to  admission. 

5. 

There  may  be  established  a College  of  Pure  and  Applied  Science, 
with  departments  of 

1.  Chemistry  and  Physics. 

2.  Geology  and  Mineralogy. 

3.  Botany  and  Zoology. 

4.  Astronomy  and  Physical  Geography. 

5.  Veterinary  Science. 

e: 

There  may  also,  circumstances  favoring,  be  opened,  at  length,  Colleges 
or  Departments  of 
Public  Health, 

Commerce, 

Education, 

Military  Science, 

Domestic  Economy, 

Fine  Arts. 


Appendix  A 1. 

Extract  from  the  annual  report  of  Dr.  Barnard,  President  of  Columbia 
College,  New  York,  for  1871. — p.  28. 

“ Taking  the  whole  country  through,  the  number  of  undergraduate  students  in  all  the 
Colleges,  is  less  at  the  present  time,  in  proportion  to  the  entire  population,  than  it  was 
thirty  years  ago,  nearly  in  the  ratio  of  two  to  one.  From  New  England,  where  Colle- 
giate education  has  always  been  more  highly  in  favor  than  anywhere  else,  the  number  of 
undergraduate  students  sent  to  the  Colleges  within  and  without  New  England  is  not 
greater  by  one  hundred  in  all  at  this  time,  than  it  was  in  1838.  It  is  even  considerably 
less,  if  we  leave  out  Harvard  University;  an  institution  which  has  received  within  the 
last  few  years,  a rapid  and  surprising  increase  of  numbers,  as  an  apparent  consequence 
of  having  abandoned  the  distinctive  features  of  the  Collegiate  system  of  instruction,  i.  e. 
the  invariable  curriculum  of  study.” 

Appendix  A. 

Professor  Henry  S.  Freize,  in  his  annual  report  as  acting  President  of 
the  University  of  Michigan  for  the  year  1870,  remarked  : 

If  a genuine  University  is  ever  to  exist,  either  here  or  anywhere  else  in  America,  it 
is  to  be  built  upon  a much  higher  scholarship  in  the  preparatory  schools  and  Academies. 
They  must  be  advanced  to  the  character  of  gymnasiums  and  must  do  a large  part  of  the 
work  of  our  Colleges  before  a University  shall  be  possible.  * * * One  public  high 
school  of  this  State,  at  the  close  of  the  present  year,  has  sent  into  our  academic  department 
a class  of  thirty -live  students  well  prepared.  The  high  schools  of  this  State  in  general  are 
yearly  coming  kito  more  mutual  relations  to  the  University,  and  sending  increasing 
numbers  to  its  halls.  If  the  University  and  the  local  school  authorities  shall  co-operate  in 
elevating  and  multiplying  the  courses  of  study,  and  in  arranging  them  as  parts  and  grades 
of  a connected  and  progressive  system,  it  will  manifestly  be  bur  a work  of  time  to  bring  up 
the  best  and  most  enterprising  of  these  seminaries  to  the  position  of  gymnasiums,  and  to 
the  level  of  attainment  which  we  so  desire  to  realize,  and  thus  in  the  end  it  will  be  possible 
for  the  University  to  drop  its  elementary  teaching,  and  to  do  its  proper  work. 

President  Barnard,  of  Columbia  College,  [See  Annual  Report,  1871, 
p.  44.]  speaking  of  the  Academies  of  the  State  of  New  York,  says — 

“But  many  of  these  are  schools  of  very  superior  merit  and  efficiency;  and  these  are 
doing,  at  the  present  time,  a great  part  of  that  work  of  disciplinary  education  which  has 
been  so  much  insisted  on  as  being  the  proper  work  of  the  Colleges.  It  is  by  these  schools 
that  the  Colleges  are  principally  fed,  as  in  Germany  the  Universities  are  fed  by  the  gym- 
nasia; and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that,  in  progress  of  time,  by  the  strengthening  and  eleva- 
tion of  both,  these  two  classes  of  institutions,  thus  independent  of  each  other  but  still 
intimately  related,  may  create  upon  this  continent  a system  of  superior  education,  prac- 
tically parallel  with  that  of  continental  Europe.” 


15 


Appendix  B, 

The  following  is  merely  a representative, — by  no  means  an  exhaustive — 
list  of  institutions  which  introduce  optional  (or  select)  studies  or  courses 
of  study  at  the  close  of  the  second  or  Sophomore  year. 

The  University  of  Michigan, 

The  College  of  New  Jersey. 

The  Cornell  University, 

The  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute, 

The  Agricultural  College  of  Iowa. 

The  Agricultural  College  of  Maine. 

The  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

Yale  College. 

Brown  University. 

Rutger’s  College. 

The  University  of  Wisconsin. 

The  University  of  Nebraska. 

The  University  of  California. 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Yassar  College. 

Professor  S.  Edwards  Warren  [See  notes  on  Polytechnic  Schools,  p.  14.] 
referring  to  a list  of  23  of  the  principal  Polytechnic  Schools  of  the  country, 
says — 

“ By  now  comparing  the  professed  objects  and  actual  results,  of  at  least  the  more  well 
developed  of  the  institutions  named  in  the  table,  with  the  foregoing  principles,  we  learn, 
that,  at  least  in  their  two  or  three  upper  years,  they  are  strictly  and  fully  professional 
schools.  For  Civil,  Mechanical,  Topographical  and  Mining  Engineering,  Physical  and 
Chemical  Technology,  and  Architecture,  are  not  taught  in  them  merely  to  discipline  the 
mind,  or  to  qualify  one  to  participate  in  the  intercourse  of  polite  society.  * * * These 
great  subjects  are  taught,  principally,  as  elevated  scientific  and  practical  professions, 
that  is,  as  means  of  gaining  ample  and  honorable  employment,  and  of  ennobling  the 
state,  by  the  application  of  fruitfui  principles  of  science  to  the  beneficent  arts  of  peace. 

The  same  author  suggests  (p.  43.)  “That  the  professional  rank  of  the  technical  schools 
should  be  unobscured,  the  more  fully  developed  among  them,  so  far  as  they  desire  to  do 
their  own  preparatory  training,  might  well  resolve  themselves  into  a distinctly  pronounced 
twofold  general  organization,  the  first  department  of  which  should  be  of  a Collegiate 
character,  and  adapted  to  the  earlier  wants  of  youth  seeking  a finished  scientific  educa- 
tion: its  second  department  embracing  any  proposed  number  of  strictly  professional 
schools,  managed  exclusively  as  such,  in  respect  to  matter  of  instruction,  and  tone  of 
administration. 

Appendix  C. 

President  Angell,  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  in  his  inaugural  address, 
1871,  thus  speaks  of  the  need  and  the  feasibility  of  dropping  the  Freshman 
and  Sophomore  years  from  the  University  to  the  preparatory  schools  : 

“ If  now  we  are  to  lift  the  grade  of  University  work,  we  must  lift  the  grade  of  preparato- 
ry work,  and  receive  our  students  only  at  a more  advanced  stage  of  learning  than  they 
at  present  reach,  before  entering  the  Freshman  class.  I learn  from  the  interesting  fe- 
port  of  President  Frieze  that  the  average  age  of  the  students  who  are  admitted  here  is 
very  nearly  that  of  the  University  students  of  Germany. 

Could  they  thoroughly  accomplish  the  Collegiate  work  of  the  first  two  years  before  com- 
mencing here,  we  might  make  their  course  compare  favorably  with  that  of  'the  German 
Universities. 

Now  the  addition  of  the  first  two  years  to  the  preparatory  course  would  be  no  greater 
advance  upon  the  present  work  of  the  schools  than  has  actually  been  achieved  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century.  Already  there  are  not  a few  schools  in  the  country  which  can 
give,  and  would  gladly  give,  the  instruction  of  the  Freshman  year.  The  time  is  not  dis- 
tant when  the  better  and  stronger  institutions  can  safely  push  up  their  requirements  for 
admission  to  the  standard  now  reached  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sophomore  year,  and  I am 
confident  that  the  day  is  not  very  remote  when  they  can  secure  yet  higher  attainments. 
The  teachers  of  academies  and  high  schools  are  generally  more  than  willing  to  do  their 
part  in  accomplishing  the  result,  since  the  character  of  their  work  and  the  tone  of  their 
schools  is  thereby  necessarily  raised. 

So  far  as  I have  observed,  this  enlargement  of  preparatory  work  is  easily  attainable, 
and  is  even  more  necessary  in  the  scientific  than  in  the  classical  department  of  our  Col- 
leges. The  mathematical  course  at  least  up  to  trigonometry,  the  elements  of  physiology, 
botany  and  physics,  some  help  in  French,  and. a year's  study  or  more  in  Latin,  may  now 
be  furnished  in  many  high  schools  in  New  England  and,  I doubt  not.  in  many  schools  in 
the  West,  * * * * 


16 

To  secure  this  elevation  of  our  work  there  must  be  the  heartiest  co-operation  of  the  Uni- 
versity and  the  schools.  It  would  have  been  a happy  completion  of  the  public  school 
system  of  the  State,  if  an  organic  connection,  like  that  between  the  German  Universities 
and  the  gymnasia  had  been  established.  But  there  may  be  such  a virtual  if  not  a formal 
connection,  and  to  accomplish  this  end  the  University  should  spare  no  efforts. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  generally  the  schools  in  this  country  are  quite  as  ready  to 
furnish  the  advanced  instruction  as  Colleges  are  to  insist  on  it  with  vigor,  as  the  indis* 
pensible  condition  of  admission.  The  courage  of  most  College  Faculties  or  Corporations 
wavers,  when  a considerable  number  of  applicants  for  entrance  are  about  to  be  cast  off 
by  a new  rule.  Of  course  good  sense  must  be  used  in  deciding  how  fast  and  how  far  the 
standard  shall  be  raised.  But  the  courageous  course  now  as  in  other  matters  is  often 
the  best  rewarded.  As  a rule  the  Colleges  whose  classes  are  increasing  most  rapidly, 
are  those  whose  requirements  for  admission,  and  whose  scale  of  work  is  highest . The 
better  and  more  aspiring  students  justly  conclude  that  from  sueh  institutions  they  shall 
receive  the  most  benefit.  Certain  it  is  that  the  best  interests  of  the  University  and  of 
good  learning  requires  us  to  make  increasing,  earnest,  and  judicious  efforts  to  push  the 
work  of  the  preparatory  schools  to  a higher  and  higher  plane.” 

Appendix  D. 

From  a “ Report  of  the  Committee  on  Organization,”  of  which  Rev* 
W.  W.  Washburn  was  chairman,  made  May  7,  1869: 

Page  6,  “ We  would,  therefore,  have  all  special  training  preceeded  by  a course  of  study  of 
wider  scope,  thus  laying  the  foundation  of  a general  scientific  and  literary  culture. 
These  general  courses  may  vary  in  length , to  meet  the  requirements  of  different  classes  of 
students.  For  those  who  desire  to  reap  to  the  fullest  e'xtent  the  advantages  of  college 
training  * * there  should  be  organized  courses  consisting  of  language,  science,  phi- 
losophy, &c.,  extending  through  the  four  years.  But  we  would  allow  those  who  have  not 
the  time  nor  inclination  for  this  extended  course  in  general  study,  to  enter  upon  that 
relating  to  their  choseu  profession  or  pursuits,  at  such  a time  as  may  be  necessary  in 
order  to  secure  its  completion  within  the  four  years.” 

Page  14.  The  Committee  recommend  that  the  first  two  years  of  the  course  in  Agricul- 
ture and  the  Mechanic  Arts,  •*  coincide  with  the  scientific  course  of  the  Department  of 
Literature,  Science,  and  the  Arts  and  that  the  last  two  years  be  devoted  to  special 
studies. 

Page  36.  The  Committee  recommend  that  the  sexes  recite  together  in  the  Preparatory 
Department,”  and  add,  “ Perhaps  their  recitations  in  some  studies  would  be  common 
through  the  Freshman  and  Sophomore  years.” 

Appendix  E. 

A Resume  of  Bylaws  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Regents,  July  12th,  1872. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Of  the  Department  of  Elementary  Instruction. 

Article  I.  Of  the  Latin  School  ; prescribes  the  length  of  course  (one  year),  and  the 
requisites  for  admission ; viz.  Reading,  Writing,  Spelling,  Practical  Arithmetic,  Local 
Geography,  and  Introductory  Grammar. 

Article  II.  Of  the  Collegiate  Department;  prescribes,  §.  1.  the  length  of  the  course  (4- 
years) ; § 2,  the  studies  ; §§  3,  4,  and  5,  the  courses  of  study  (see  announcement  for  1871-72) 
and  choice  to  be  made  at  time  of  entrance;  § 6,  Requisites  for  admission;  Reading,  Writ- 
ing, Spelling,  Arithmetic,  and  Elementary  Algebra.  U.  S.  History,  and  English  ok  Latin 
Grammar;  § 7,  The  issue,  to  students  who  may  have  been  passed  upon  any  study,  of  a 
Certificate,  and  to  those  who  may  have  completed  a course , of  a Final  Certificate. 

Article  III.  Of  the  Faculty  of  the  Department  of  Elementary  Instruction;  Consists  of 
the  President  ex-officio,  with  casting  vote,  of  professors  and  assistant  professors  employ- 
ed in  and  for  the  Department,  and  of  such  other  professors  and  assistant  professors  as 
may  be  detailed  for  duty  in  the  Dopartment,  by  the  Board  of  Regents,  or  in  their  recess 
by  the  President  of  the  University.  Professors  have  two  votes , assistant  professors  one. 

Art.  IY.  Of  the  stiidents  of  the  Department  of  Elementary  Instruction ; prescribes;  § 1, 
That  each  file  an  application  in  given  form  before  Registry ; § 2,  the  payment  of'1  incident- 
als” before  Registry ; § 3,  form  of  “ student’s  cards ;”  §4,  that  students  absent  for  six 
consecutive  days  be  dropped  from  the  rolls;  § 5,  three  recitations  for  five  days  in  each 
week,  besides  exercises  in  Drawing,  Millitary  Tactics,  Elocution,  Composition,  &c. ; § 6, 
Punishments;  Demerits,  Warnings,  Suspensions,  Expulsion,  and  Reduction  to  the 
ranks  in  the  Millitary  Corps ; § 7,  excuses  to  be  filed  for  every  absence  on  the  following 
morning,  before  admittance  to  any  recitation. 

Article  V.  Of  the  Routine  of  the  Collegiate  Department;  § 1,  divides  the  year  of  40 
weeks,  beginning  on  the  1st  Tuesday  of  September,  into  3 terms  of  16,  15  and  9 weeks 
respectively;  § 2,  requires  all  students  to  attend  the  morning  chapel ; § 3,  suspends  work 
on  legal  Holidays;  § 4,  fixes  amount  of  “ Incidentals”  ($6.00  @ year) ;§  5,  requires  all 
male  students  to  drill  unless  excused  by  the  Faculty  and  authorizes  those  who  intend  to 
complete  a course  to  wear  the  uniform.  Millitary  appointments  are  made  by  the  Presi- 
dent, upon  recommendation  of  the  Professor  of  Millitary  Science,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Faculty ; § 6,  appoints  the  regular  examination  of  Candidates  for  admistion  on  the  first 
day  of  the  first  term,  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  University  at  9 a.  m.  ; § 7,  requires  ex- 
aminations to  be  held  at  the  end  of  each  term — any  person  admitted  to  them ; § 8,  prescribes 
the  system  of  marking  recitations  and  examinations ; § 9,  “ demerit  system. 


17 

CHAPTER  II. 


Of  the  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  of  Arts.* 

Art.  I.  Of  the  Agricultural  Divison  prescribes:  § 1,  the  scheme  of  studies  (see  an- 
nouncement for  1871—72) ; § 2,  the  length  of  course — 2 years ; § 3,  the  requisites  for  admis- 
sion—for  candidates  for  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Agriculture  the  Scientific  Course  of  the  Col- 
legiate Department,  but  any  person  competent  to  receive  instruction  allowed  to  attend 
the  classes. 

Art.  II.  Of  the  Mechanic  Arts  Divison,  prescribes;  § 1,  courses  of  study,  Civil  En- 
gineeringr,  Mechanical  Engineering  — Scheme  of  studies  (see  announcement  for  1871—72); 
§2,  length  of  course,  2 years — same  terms  and  recesses  as  in  Collegiate  department;  § 3: 
requisites  for  admission — the  Scientific  course  of  the  Collegiate  Department;  §4,  degrees 
of  C.  E.  and  M.  E.,  given  to  those  students  who  complete  a course — hut  any  person  com- 
petent allowed  to  join  classes. 

Art.  III.  Of  the  Faculty  of  the  College,  &c. ; § 1,  Composition  and  regulations  of 
this  Faculty  analagous  to  that  of  the  Collegiate  Department;  § 2,  merits  of  students  to 
be  ascertained  from  examinations  only;  § 3,  Punishments  to  be  warnings,  Suspensions, 
Expulsions. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Of  the  College  of  Science,  Literature  and  the  Arts. 

§.  1.  fixes  length  of  course — 2 years, — and  gives  plan  of  studies  and  courses(see  announce- 
ment for  1871 — 72).  Two  required  studies  and  one  elective  the  rule.  Merits  ascer- 
tained by  examinations  only;  §2, Terms  and  recesses  the  same  as  those  of  the  Collegiate 
Department,— Requisite  for  admission  to  full  standing,  the  appropriate  conrses  of  the 
Collegiate  Department,  or  a successful  examination " in  equivalent  studies— Elective 
studies  to  be  selected  within  three  days  from  the  beginning  of  the  term;  § 3,  Degrees  of 
B.  A.  B.  s.  and  B.  L.,  to  students  completing  a course  satisfactorily,  but  any  person  com- 
petent allowed  to  join  classes;  § 4,  Punishments ; Warnings,  Suspensions,  Expulsion; 
| 5,  Faculty — composition  and  regulation,  analagous  to  that  of  Collegiate  Department. 

CHAPTER  IY. 

Of  the  College  of  Law  and  Medicine, — (not  organized.) 

CHAPTER  V. 

Of  the  officers  of  the  University,  &c. 

§ 1,  Engagements  of  officers  terminable  by  either  party,  upon  giving  seasonable  notic?. 
Absent  ofticers  to  give  notice  to  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Regents.  All  officers 
required  to  suppress  disorders ; § 2,  President  of  the  University  required  to  publish  the 
Annual  Calendar,  to  approve  bills  and  accounts  of  incidental  expenses,  to  have  charge 
of  the  Library,  to  communicate  information  to  any  faculty,  unless  by  him  deemed  inex- 
pedient, to  arrange  with  the  assistance  of  the  several  Faculties  the  programme  of  studies 
and  exercises,  to  forward  to  the  Board  of  Regents  all  official  communications  from  officers 
and  students ; § 3,  Professors  to  have  general  superintendence  of  their  respective  depart- 
ments and  to  be  responsible  for  the  successful  management  cf  them,  to  select  text-books ; 
assistant  professors  and  other  instructors  to  be  responsible  for  the  order  and  progress 
of  their  classes— the  duties  of  cognate  departments  to  be  so  distributed  as  to  give  all 
instructors  equal  employment,  as  nearly  may  be,  according  to  rank — the  professors  to 
make  an  annual  report;  § 4,  The  General  Faculty  consists  of  the  President  ex-officio , 
and  all  professors  and  assistant  professors.  The  President  has  a casting  vote  only; 
professors  have  two  votes,  assistant  professors  one.  The  duty  of  the  general  Faculty 
— to  consider  all  matters  proposed  by  the  President  or  the  Board  of  Regents  and  to 
advise  whatever  may  seem  advantageous— to  regulate  all  organized  societies  and  clubs, 
and  to  prescribe  the  manner  and  rules  of  all  examinations ; § 5,  No  society  to  be  deemed 
organized  until  its  Constitution  and  By-laws  shall  have  been  approved  by  the  General 
Faculty— lists  of  officers  to  filed  in  the  President’s  office— President  to  designate  rooms  to 
be  used  and  may  hold  officers  responsible  for  damages.  No  meetings  of  students  other 
than  those  of  authorized  societies  to  be  held  without  leave. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Repeals  all  previous  legislation  inconsistent  with  the  foregoing. 

Appendix  F. 

From  Whewell  on  University  Education  in  England,  pp.  76,  77. 

“ The  continued  superintendence  and  control  which  direct  College  teaching,  implies, 
are  most  easy  and  natural  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  pupil’s  residence  in  the  University. 
I should  judge  it  desirable  that  the  two  first  years  of  his  career  were  employed  in  this 
kind  of  study,  and  l think  it  w'ouldbe  a great  advantage  if  no  University  examinations, 

*By  virtue  of  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  February  29th,  1872,  the  College  of 
Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts  was  separated  into 
The  College  op  Agriculture  and 
The  College  of  the  Mechanic  Arts. 


— - 


compulsory  or  emulous, 'disturbed  the  even  tenor  of  this  course  of  instruction.  * * * 
“After  two  years  spent  under  the  influence  of  College  rules,  I conceive  the  student 
might,  with  advantage,  be  given  over  to  the  motives  and  employments  which  the  Uni- 
versity offers.  * * * 

“ After  this,  the  forward  studeut  would  be  prepared  for  the  highest  exertions  and  the 
widest  speculation,  for  competitions  and  professorial  lectures ; while  the  slow  learner 
would  have  exhausted  all  that  could  easily  be  communicated  to  him  directly,  and  might 
be  well  employed  in  preparing  for  the  final  examination ; * * * 

“ It  would  be  quite  consistent  that  this,  the  University  period  of  the  student’s  career, 
should  be  opened  by  a previous  examination  fitted  to  ascertain  that  he  was  in  the  state  of 
proficiency  which  the  system  proposes. 

“ I give  this  sketch  merely  with  a view  of  pointing  out  the  mode  in  which  the  Uni- 
versity and  College  systems  may  be  combined,  and  the  great  inconveniences  avoided, 
which  may  arise,  and  have  arisen,  from  their  conflicting  tendencies:  by  no  means  intend- 
ing to  offer  it  as  a scheme  of  which  the  details  are  matured.  But  this,  or  something  of 
this  kind,  is,  I think,  a plan  well  worthy  the  notice  of  all  English  Universities.” 


Resolved , That  after  a full  consideration  of  the  objections 
urged  against  the  plan  of  organization  of  the  University,  and 
the  answer  thereto,  it  is  the  judgment  of  the  Board  that  it  is 
not  expedient  to  make  any  radical  change  or  modification 
in  the  settled  policy  of  the  University  as  heretofore  fixed  by 
the  Board. 

A true  copy. 

(Attest) 


A.  A.  Harwood, 

Record i nig  Secret  a ry . 


